War: 1965. Vietnam

“There is one and only one legitimate goal of United States foreign policy. It is a narrow goal, a nationalistic goal: the preservation of our national independence. Nothing in the Constitution grants that the president shall have the privilege of offering himself as a world leader. He is our executive; he is on our payroll; he is supposed to put our best interests in front of those of other nations. Nothing in the Constitution nor in logic grants to the president of the United States or to Congress the power to influence the political life of other countries, to ‘uplift’ their cultures, to bolster their economies, to feed their people, or even to defend them against their enemies.” (Ezra Taft Benson, America at the Crossroads, August 30, 1969.)

“The My Lai massacre, the sentencing of Lt. Calley to life imprisonment, ‘The Selling of the Pentagon,’ and the so-called Pentagon papers are leading examples of attempts to shift all the blame to the military in the eyes of the people.

“But no one identifies the Council on Foreign Relations—the CFR—a group of some 1400 Americans which includes as members almost every top level decision and policy maker in the Vietnam War.

“CBS tells the people it wants them to know what is going on and who is to blame. Why doesn't CBS tell the American people about the CFR and let the people decide whom to blame for the Vietnam fiasco —the planners and top decision makers of a closely knit financial industrial-intellectual aristocracy or military leaders under civilian control who have had little or no voice in the overall policies and operations and who are forbidden by law to tell the American people their side.

“The My Lai incident, ‘The Selling of the Pentagon,’ and the Pentagon papers have not scratched the surface in identifying the responsible kingmakers of the new ruling royalty, let alone in exposing the CFR role in Vietnam. Who will tell the people the truth if those who control "the right to know machinery" also control the government?” (Louisiana Congressman John Rarick You've Got a Right to Know, July 15, 1971.)

“President Wilson had the full departure in mind [of the Founders doctrine of neutrality] when he declared: ‘Everybody’s business is our business.’ Since then we have leaped ahead along the anciently forbidden path.” (J. Reuben Clark, Let Us Have Peace, Church News, November 22, 1947.)

“We are a warlike people, easily distracted from our assignment of preparing for the coming of the Lord. When enemies rise up, we commit vast resources to the fabrication of gods of stone and steel—ships, planes, missiles, fortifications—and depend on them for protection and deliverance. When threatened, we become antienemy instead of pro-kingdom of God; we train a man in the art of war and call him a patriot, thus, in the manner of Satan’s counterfeit of true patriotism.” (President Spencer W. Kimball, Ensign, June 1976.)